The Fixer

A con crew role, the Fixer is, if you will, the stage manager for the crew. Maybe "properties (props) director" or "set designer" would be better analogies. Either way, this is the person the Con Man goes to if he needs a thing to do his thing.

Call up your Fixer if you need a Big Store, for example, or a convincing counterfeit, or squibs for the blow-off, or ... well, anything. The weirder, the better. Live jackalopes, a specialty.

Compare The Scrounger.

Alternative uses of the term:

• Gangster films from the forties called lawyers fixers - see Amoral Attorney, The Consigliere.
• A gangland type (sometimes called a Bag Man) who specializes in resolving conflicts between gangs may also be called a fixer.
• As are people who interface with law-enforcement to put the "fix in."

If you want the ITV drama series go here.

Examples of The Fixer include:

Film

• In the movie Inception, this could describe either the architect (who creates the mental landscapes they go into) or the chemist (who makes the drugs they use for an inception or extraction).

Live-Action TV

• Ash in Hustle
• No Reservations: Anthony Bourdain has written of the need for a débrouillard, an unofficial function within some commercial kitchens whose job it is to get the crew out of the weeds by any means necessary. Questionably sourced ingredients and oddball cooking techniques (deep-fried steaks among them) figure large in the role.
• Pretty much Sam's job in Burn Notice, he provides Michael with the tools he needs to do his work, as well as using his many "buddies" to get info from legal channels. Unlike most fixers, Sam actually does do fieldwork too.
• Lt. Templeton "Faceman" Peck from The A-Team does this, but like Sam Axe above, he also gets his hands dirty.
• On Leverage, none of the characters really do this role exclusively, although all have done elements of this as a part of the various cons that they have been involved in. The most frequent individual for this role is generally Eliot, in contrast to his other major function.
  • Nate's father, Jimmy Ford, was the best fixer in South Boston back in the day.

Tabletop Games

• In Shadowrun, the fixer provides shadowrunners with work by connecting them with contacts from Mega Corps / the underground / where who want dirty work done. Fixers can also help you track down people who can give you the gear you need.

Video Games

• In the online detective game Sleuth, your character's license as a Private Detective will be revoked if you make three wrongful accusations. However, you can go to the shady character who hangs out in the back of the downtown bar and pay them to clear your record to avoid this. The more often this happens though, the more expensive it gets. The flash version of the game even specifically calls this character The Fixer.